Lithium
by dti
Summary: Naruto’s picked up a dangerous habit and now it’s up to Sasuke and the rest of Team 7 to show him why he doesn’t need to take a hit to feel okay. Sasunaru NO Sakura bashing.
1. I Wanna Stay in Love with My Sorrow

**Summary:** Naruto's picked up a dangerous habit and now it's up to Sasuke to show him why he doesn't need to take a hit to feel okay. Sasunaru Warning: drug abuse

**Warning:** There will be some pretty descriptive references to drug abuse during this story and a heavy amount of it is within the first two chapters. I'd just like to remind everyone that no matter how shitty you feel, drug abuse isn't a great way to solve your problems. I'm not trying to preach to anyone about what they should and shouldn't do, I just feel somewhat obligated to, I guess, discourage drug use if I'm gonna write a story about it.

**Author's note:** The story title and chapter titles are all inspired by "Lithium" by Evanescence.

**Lithium**

By: Droptheice

**Chapter One: I Wanna Stay in Love with My Sorrow**

Naruto sat on the edge of his bed, fidgeting anxiously with the syringe in his hand. His hands were shaking with anticipation as he raised the glass tube before his eyes, taping it twice before squeezing out the excess air with expert precision. Four milligrams: that would at least get him through the night. The rubber band on his upper arm was beginning to hurt but he didn't care. Nothing would hurt once he was finished. Nothing would hurt for at least a few hours. Naruto's gaze flicked down to the bend of his arm and he scowled in frustration. None of his veins were visible. He slapped the skin several times, waiting for the soft blue to surface at his skin, ready for the needle to pierce. He sighed in frustration when none did. He flicked his wrist over to stare at the veins in his frailer than usual wrist. Those veins were sitting at the surface of his skin, waiting for that needle to dive in and send him into the only peace of mind he could receive. The only problem was, Naruto didn't want people to know about his somewhat newly developed habit. If he started shooting up in his wrist, he knew it'd start to show. His sleeves didn't always cover that area very well.

_It's only once_, he thought to himself, _my other veins just need a break. It's only once_, he assured as he stuck the cold metal into the veins in his left wrist. He couldn't help but scoff at himself: 'it's only once' was the exact thought he had when he first started this whole habit several months ago. As he emptied the syringe, Naruto felt the familiar numb feeling overwhelming his senses as he untied the rubber band around his arm, the scowl slowly leaving his features, replaced by a relaxed, yet less then content frown. Sure, it felt good, but it wasn't as if he enjoyed the fact that he had resolved to this.

He could only imagine what everyone would think of him. Except that's exactly what he was trying to escape from; the way everyone thought of him. So it'd be better not to dwell on those thoughts. With that in mind, he laid back on his futon, staring at the ceiling in silence, his limbs feeling heavy as the drowsy feeling enveloped him. But he was unable to sleep. He felt too good to sleep.

---

Naruto didn't know when it had happened, but he had fallen asleep and slept through his alarm and was now a half an hour late to meet his team.

"Shit," he swore under his breath as he dragged himself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He grabbed for the items on his nightstand, cursing more under his breath as he stabbed himself with a used needle. He pulled the needle from his palm before opening the top drawer, grabbing the syringe he had prepared for himself last night.

Two milligrams: enough to get him through training but not enough to make him too lazy to complete it. Finding a vein was as difficult if not more so than last night. He settled with using his foot to find a vein. Even if it was more painful, it was probably the easiest after the bend of his arm. But he had already screwed up those veins. He couldn't use them until they healed themselves.

He sighed, getting up with a little difficulty before taking off towards the team seven bridge: the same one they always met at. Upon arrival, Sakura began to scold him on his tardiness and he waved a hand at her in dismissal: big mistake. Before he could blink, he was on the ground, nursing a throbbing head courtesy of Sakura's fist. At least it didn't hurt too badly. His habit had taken care of that. He could hardly feel any pain at all.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Kakashi scolded as Naruto stared up at him in something akin to confusion. When the hell did Kakashi get here?

"Sorry, what were you saying?" the blonde apologized as he stood from his position on the ground.

"I was asking if you packed," the silver haired jounin repeated as Naruto looked around at his companions. They both had their backpacks and looked ready for a mission. They didn't have a mission…did they?

"Pack? For what?" Naruto asked, earning a scoff from Sasuke who received a glare back from the blonde.

"We have a mission today," the pink haired kunoichi reminded as she raised her hand to rest on her hip, "Naruto, did you really forget?"

"I don't – I can't even remember now that you're telling me about it," the blonde admitted with a worried crease to his eyebrow. Why the hell couldn't he remember? "Can I at least go pack?" he asked, feeling all too hopeful.

"No, we're too late as it is. We won't be gone too long, Naruto. You'll be fine," Kakashi stated as he turned to leave, followed by Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto stood rooted to the spot.

"Naruto, come on stupid! We're gonna be late!" Sakura yelled as she turned around to face the blonde.

"I-I–" Naruto stuttered as he desperately racked his mind for a legitimate excuse to return home before leaving.

"I said let's _go_!" Sakura yelled as she grabbed the blonde by the arm and dragged him towards the rest of the group. Sasuke was eyeing him warily. What the hell was up with the dobe? He seemed slower and more tired lately. He almost looked like he was depressed but enjoying it. It was difficult for Sasuke to explain. Besides, Naruto couldn't be depressed. He was the one that was happy for all of them when they needed him to be. He was the one who would smile through the roughest times. It was really him who pulled them through when no one thought they could make it. Sasuke decided the blonde must have just been tired. There were no other plausible explanations. Sasuke wouldn't admit it even to himself, but the idea of Naruto being unhappy was more than disturbing.

---

To say that Naruto was freaking out would be an understatement. What the hell was he going to do when the withdrawals kicked in, in about…four hours? It would be more than obvious something was wrong when he wouldn't be able to stop shaking. He had experienced withdrawals several times and he knew there was absolutely no way to hide them. They made him feel too terrible to even care. He had never had to deal with them on a mission or during training because he usually was more prepared. No one had seen him go through withdrawals before and he knew it would be extremely obvious something was wrong. If he would have paid better attention after their last training session, maybe he would have heard about the mission and he wouldn't have landed himself in this situation.

Several hours later, as they crossed the border, Naruto felt himself shiver as chills racked his body. He mentally kicked himself once more for good measure as the proverbial feeling of withdrawals kicked in. He could feel himself becoming restless and anxious for no reason, so it was without surprise that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Sasuke tried to talk to him.

"Dobe," the raven began before stopping to stare incredulously at the blonde who looked as if an enemy had just jumped into his path at the mere sound of being addressed, "What the hell's gotten into you?" the raven asked as Kakashi and Sakura both turned to stare at the blonde as well. They had been wondering something along the same lines. His behavior this morning was, to say the least, unusual. To say all of them were curious as to what was going on would be an understatement.

"Nothing's 'gotten into me'," the blonde stated in a hostile tone, picking up a mocking attitude as he quoted the raven.

"Then care to explain just what you were thinking about that made you jump like a scared kitten?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," the blonde defended in a tone of defiance. God, he was irritable. And Sasuke was only making it worse. He just needed to be left alone!

"Tch, you're so stupid. Well whatever's going on, figure out a way to fix it. Your idiocy alone is enough to jeopardize the success of any miss–" he began before Naruto felt his resolve snap. He bolted towards the raven, fist drawn back before throwing a punch at the Uchiha who only barely managed to bring his forearm up to block the attack. He skidded several feet before pulling his arms up to block a second and more powerful attack.

Naruto continued throwing punch after punch while Sasuke only barely managed to keep blocking. Only once before had he fought Naruto like this, and that fight concluded with Naruto being unconscious for several days and Sasuke himself in a different country with a different alliance. Normally, when the two fought, there was always a fine line that neither of them crossed. They fought each other hard but they never fought dirty. That meant no Kyuubi and no Cursed Seal.

So when Naruto's eyes flashed a dangerous shade of red, he knew he had pissed the blonde off enough to send him over that line.

Kakashi watched with a worried feeling stirring in his gut. Naruto was attacking Sasuke as if he were the enemy and he knew he should break it up soon. He pulled his hitai-ate up to reveal his sharingan; he wanted to make sure to stop this fight before it got any worse and not as it was about to. As timely as the sharingan wielder was, he saw Naruto pull a sharpened kunai before it happened, and he tackled the blonde to the ground before he could throw it. Excluding their fight at the Valley of End, neither had ever thrown sharpened weapons at the other. During training, it was always dulled kunai and shurienken. Naruto was attacking Sasuke with the intention of severely injuring or possibly killing him. And with the way Sasuke treated Naruto, he honestly wouldn't have been surprised if it were for the latter.

Kakashi noticed the dominant chakra of the Kyuubi and quickly pulled the seal Jiraiya had given him to subdue the demon fox out of his hip pack and slapped it on the blonde's forehead. Naruto blinked and his eyes returned from their deep red to a cold icy blue. Kakashi had once referred to the hue in Naruto's eyes as a bright sky blue. The analogy had quickly changed from that of warmth, to a sharp, cold reference of the most southern ocean's ice. Naruto was pissed. To say Kakashi thought that a lot of the hate radiating off of the blonde had been suppressed rage from the past sixteen years of his life wasn't too far off the bat. The only emotion thrown his way most of his life was hate and detest. There's no way someone could honestly be as happy as Naruto was with all that negative energy radiating towards him whenever he stepped out of the safety of his empty home.

Naruto pushed himself out from under his teacher's grasp before sitting up and trying to rip the seal off his forehead. He growled in frustration when it didn't budge. Obviously this seal was only meant to be taken off by the one who had placed it.

"Take it off!" Naruto yelled at the silver haired man, earning a sigh as he did.

"Have you calmed down?" Kakashi asked as Naruto scowled, throwing him a look of pure detest. Kakashi couldn't help but feel intimidated by the intensity of the hatred rolling off the blonde at the present time. Kakashi sighed once more before leaning down and pulling the seal off. The moment it was removed, Naruto slapped his arm away to put as much distance between himself and the stupid piece of paper as he could before getting up and turning to face the raven who was watching with a look of something akin to worry and bewilderment.

"When will you two learn to get along?" the silver haired man asked as he stepped in between the two, stopping any further attacks that might have been about to happen. He received only silence in reply as both continued to stare at each other, Naruto piling in as much detest as possible while Sasuke only returned it with a look of confusion. The two were practically speaking to each other without opening their mouths. Only they understood the exchange.

Sakura stood rooted to the spot, wringing her hands nervously together as she continued to just watch. She had given up on trying to stop the two of them from fighting, but it didn't make her any less nervous knowing there was nothing she could do to stop them. In fact, it merely increased her anxiety. She hated when they fought.

"Well, either way, we should probably set up camp. It's getting late and we need to get going early tomorrow morning if we want to make it home before nightfall," Kakashi stated, feeling relieved when Naruto finally shifted his gaze from the raven and walked away towards the other side of the clearing.

Naruto listened while everyone dropped their things to set up camp. Since he didn't have anything to set up camp with, he had nothing to do. He wanted to get away from his team so badly; he was desperate.

"I'll take first watch," he stated in a low and dangerous tone, daring anyone to object before jumping into one of the surrounding trees and taking off to find a suitable place to guard the camp from. He was mentally kicking himself for the performance he had just put on. He was easy to anger in the first place despite the additional irritability that came along with the lack of his fix. And the worst part about it was that he knew that the withdrawals weren't even bad yet. But in a couple of hours, he knew they would peak and he definitely didn't want to be around anyone when they did. He could probably pass them off as a bad case of the flu, but he didn't want to, as Sasuke would say, jeopardize the success of the mission by making anyone worry: not that he thought that anyone would honestly worry about him. He just figured they'd be more worried about their own backs with one man down.

With that thought in mind, he had absolutely no intention of waking anyone for the next watch.

---

Sasuke woke with a start, glaring around the campsite to find Kakashi leaning against the same tree he'd fallen asleep against and Sakura huddled close to the fire which was now just a dim pile of glowing embers. From the state of the fire, he assumed it was well past midnight. Naruto had neglected to wake anyone for the second watch. He wondered if the blonde had just fallen asleep somewhere or if he was just that angry with him. He hated, more than anything, to admit it; but he owed Naruto an apology. So, as quietly as possible, he got up and left the camp in search of the Kyuubi container.

After only several minutes of searching, and with the help of the Kyuubi's distinct chakra signature, Sasuke found Naruto sitting in a tree, shivering in the warmth of the summer night as he leaned against the tree trunk. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He wasn't even the slightest bit cold.

"Dobe," the raven began, half expecting a sharpened kunai to come flying his way at the insulting nickname. When he earned no response, he continued, "Why didn't you wake anyone up?" When there was still no response Sasuke jumped into the tree, sitting himself next to the blonde. He glanced over at Naruto, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the blonde's state. Sweat was rolling down his face in rivulets and his face looked flushed. His condition was disconcerting.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, concern clear in his voice. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows before glancing at the raven in something akin to confusion.

"And what the hell do you care?" he asked in a hostile tone, wringing his shaking hands together, hoping Sasuke wouldn't notice them.

"I do care, usuratonkatchi," the raven admitted in an angry tone as he reached out to feel Naruto's forehead, "You idiot! You have a fever!" he exclaimed before Naruto slapped his hand away.

"Shut up! Jesus! Do you want to wake up the entire forest?" the blonde hissed back as he glanced over his shoulder. To say Sasuke was confused was an understatement. What the hell had gotten into Naruto? He seemed unable to sit still and every small noise would cause him to jump. He was acting as if someone was after his life and as if he weren't a shinobi who was completely capable of taking care of himself.

"If you're sick I'm telling Sakura–" he began before the blonde shook his head in denial.

"I'm not sick so just fuck off," Naruto whispered with as much detest as he could pile on.

"Well then why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Sasuke asked in a quiet tone, filled with genuine concern.

"Since when did you give a shit about anyone other than yourself?" the blonde rebounded.

"I'm capable of human compassion, dobe," the raven assured as Naruto scoffed.

"That's a load of crap."

"I'm not completely heartless!" Sasuke defended as Naruto shot him an amused look. "What?" he asked when his gaze didn't falter.

"That's a case of denial if I ever saw one."

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Sasuke asked, anger and frustration clear in his voice.

Naruto shifted quickly kicking Sasuke's feet up while he pushed the raven's shoulder back, sending him falling towards the ground. Sasuke did an elegant back flip and landed deftly on his feet, staring up at Naruto with an angry glare.

"What the fuck?!" the raven yelled as Naruto looked over his shoulder to glare back, "Why are you just trying to push everyone away?" Naruto scowled, his anger becoming more apparent with each word that left Sasuke's mouth.

"Look who's talking you goddamn hypocrite!" he yelled back, forgetting his need to keep quiet during the silence of the night as he jumped down from the branch, landing before the raven, "All you _ever_ do is push people away! Ever since we were little. And I never bugged you about it! So just leave me alone!"

"The day I pull a complete one-eighty and act the way you've been acting, I'll admit that I need help, but goddamn it Naruto! You can't honestly expect me to just drop it."

"Like you would understand," the blonde mumbled as he turned around to leave.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shoulder, flipping him around and slamming him roughly against the tree, "Understand what?"

"Just leave me alone," Naruto pleaded, his downcast gaze avoiding Sasuke's searching one.

"Why are you pushing me away when you obviously need help?" Sasuke asked, earning no response, "Talk to me!" he yelled, punching the tree behind the blonde, nearly grazing his cheek in the process.

"Does it frustrate you that much, Sasuke?" the blonde asked quietly as he lifted his head to gaze at the raven, "Does the fact that I've finally shut up like you tell me to every day really make you want to hit me? Go ahead. Hit me. Don't hold back just because you feel bad. You've never followed any kind of moral code before. You've never missed a chance to kick me when I was down. So go on! Go ahead and hit me! I don't need your pity–" he began before Sasuke roughly hit him across the face, silencing him mid sentence.

"Pity and concern are two completely different things usuratonkatchi," he seethed as Naruto spit out the blood pooling in his mouth. "Now, you can either talk to me about whatever's bugging you and explain why you look so sick, or I can let Sakura come to her own conclusion about it. Your choice."

"Bring it on asshole," the blonde challenged as he pushed Sasuke away in an attempt to regain his personal space but Sasuke grabbed his wrist the moment his hand made contact with his shoulder and kept a dead fast grip on it.

"Fine," the raven sighed as he turned, keeping his hold on Naruto's wrist, dragging him back to camp. Naruto struggled slightly against the rough treatment but it wasn't too long before he just gave up, feeling too tired and irritated to continue fighting.

They soon loudly entered the campsite, waking both Kakashi and Sakura in the process. Kakashi took a defensive stance as he abruptly stood from the tree he was leaning against but relaxed the moment he saw it was only his two students stumbling into the clearing. Sasuke continued to drag Naruto further into the clearing until he was at Sakura's feet. She looked up at him groggily and then glanced over to Naruto before shooting Kakashi a puzzled look.

"He's sick," the raven stated, roughly throwing Naruto to the ground who landed flat on his back at Sakura's feet with a painful thud and a groan of discomfort, "Fix him."

"What?" she mumbled as she slowly sat up, her voice thick with sleep and confusion still apparent on her features, "You're sick, Naruto?" she asked, shifting her gaze to the blonde who also sat up, glaring hard at Sasuke.

"Yeah, I'm sick of this asshole sticking his nose in my business," he stated as he pointed an accusing finger at the raven.

"Your business is my business you idiot. That's what being part of a team is."

"Like you would even know the first thing about teamwork!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Kakashi interrupted, ceasing further arguments between the two, "Sasuke, go take second watch," he instructed, watching warily as the raven shot the blonde a heavy look before swiftly leaving the clearing, leaving a pounding silence in his wake.

"Now, what would give Sasuke the idea that you're sick?" Kakashi asked as he turned his attention to the fidgeting blonde.

"Nothing, I'm just tired. That's all," the blonde lied lamely as Sakura narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Then why didn't you wake someone for the second watch?" Kakashi asked, knowing it was well past the time for the second watch to have gone on duty.

"I did, I woke up Sasuke!" Naruto tried, feeling that the lie was too convenient for its own good.

"You're naïve Naruto. If that were true then Sasuke wouldn't have been dragging you back into the campsite. He would have noticed your condition when you woke him up," the silver haired jounin stated, shooting down Naruto's attempt with ease.

"Whatever!" the blonde began, frustrated with the fact that he had been caught in two lies within minutes. Before he could continue, he was cut off as a cold hand was pressed firmly against his forehead, catching him completely off guard.

"Well Sasuke-kun was right. He's got a fever," Sakura explained, glancing over her shoulder to Kakashi.

"It's no big deal. It's just a cold," he mumbled as he gently pushed Sakura's hand away from his forehead, "Honestly, I feel fine."

Sakura seemed conflicted over whether to let Naruto slide by with that explanation but decided to let it go as a cold anyway. She gently pushed him back down and told him to rest as she draped her blanket over him before grabbing spare firewood and rekindling the fire in an attempt to keep him warm. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at the gesture Sakura was making. Since when was he important enough to give up a blanket to? Well it didn't matter. He'd only have to wait until she fell asleep to return it. It wasn't like he'd be able to sleep tonight anyway.

---

The next morning, Sakura woke up to find her blanket returned to her and Naruto at the edge of the clearing speaking to Kakashi.

"Are you sure you'll be ok to finish the mission?" he asked as Naruto waved his hand in dismissal.

"I said I'm fine Kakashi-sensei," he stated, irritation clear in his voice, "So let's just get this over with."

Sasuke had returned to the campsite and a grave silence fell over the team. Sakura could feel the tension between Sasuke and Naruto and by the profound look Sasuke was shooting at the back of Naruto's head, she knew there had been heavy words exchanged between them that Kakashi and herself had missed.

The rest of the mission had proceeded in a similar fashion: communication was only used when necessary for completing the mission and absolutely no words were shared between Sasuke and Naruto. They both seemed too irritated to speak any more than necessary and Sakura had to admit that she really missed Naruto's non-stop talk. Over the years, he had gained a comical wit that could always make her laugh; not to mention the fact that he seemed to achieve the tact to know when those jokes were appropriate.

So when they had returned to the village late that same night without one crack at Kakashi's perverted nature or Sasuke's 'stick up the ass' behavior, she was wondering just what kind of words he and Sasuke had exchanged. They seemed to have affected him more than just the usual arguments they usually had.

She watched with worried eyes as her teammate left in the direction of his apartment before turning toward her other teammate.

"Sasuke-kun," she began uneasily before Sasuke cut her off.

"I'll go talk to him. I'm sure he's fine and if he's not, I'll beat the crap out of him until I figure out what it is that's got him so wound up," he stated before taking off in the same direction the blonde had just left in. Sakura sighed, knowing that was about as close to a promise to help Naruto as she would get from Sasuke.

She just prayed Sasuke was as sure as he came off being. She suspected the painless way he was taking the situation was just a front. She prayed, for Naruto's sake, that he wasn't just trying to make her feel better.

---

_**To be continued**_

Ah…ok so the next chapter is gonna get kinda (really) descriptive with drug use so just a forewarning.

Thank you for reading! I hope it was somewhat enjoyable.


	2. But God, I Wanna Let it Go

Chapter Two commin' atcha!

Author's note: Please note that I do not condone Naruto's actions. Anyway, please enjoy :)

**Chapter Two: But God, I Wanna Let it Go**

Sasuke caught up to the blonde rather quickly and followed him silently the rest of the way, taking to the shadows as he did so to avoid the blonde catching him. They soon arrived at Naruto's apartment complex and Sasuke looked up at the building in disgust. Every time he came here, he asked himself the same thing: why the hell didn't Naruto just move out and find a better place to live? It was one thing when they were twelve and only made so much on missions like finding someone's cat, but now they made plenty of money with the missions they were assigned.

As Naruto began climbing the dingy stairwell, Sasuke jumped onto the balcony of the familiar window which he knew looked into the blonde's apartment. He never used the front door when visiting the blonde and Naruto never seemed to mind so he never bothered changing routine. He pulled the window open but decided to stay outside to hide among the shadows of the middle of the night. He was thankful tonight was a new moon. He could see the entire apartment perfectly save from the bathroom which actually had its own room.

Sasuke watched from the window as Naruto slammed closed the door to his apartment before stumbling into his kitchen, his hands shaking terribly as he hastily opened a drawer under the counter and swearing loudly when he'd used too much force, sending the drawer and its contents crashing to the floor. Several small plastic wrapped substances fell to the ground along with several spoons, a small box of cotton and alcohol swabs, a few lighters, and a couple syringes, one of which broke when it hit the tiled floor. Sasuke immediately understood but waited for the right moment to intervene. He needed to be sure his assumptions were correct. There was still a chance Naruto didn't use those needles for what it looked like he used them for, right? Maybe Naruto was diabetic. Or maybe that was what he assumed wishful thinking was. He watched while Naruto swore some more as he threw the contents back into the drawer, placing it on the counter and not bothering to try and replace it with the way his hands were shaking. He threw out the broken syringe before grabbing one of the bundles of plastic, unwrapping it and grabbing the small pill and setting it on the counter. He grabbed a cup out of the cupboard in front of him and filled it with water before setting it next to the pill. He grabbed the box of alcohol swabs, fumbling with the cardboard lid before he finally opened it grabbing a small square and ripping open the plastic. He cleaned his hands with the small white cloth before grabbing the spoon and doing the same, roughly and thoroughly cleaning the dip of the metal.

He grabbed the small pill, placing it in the center of the spoon before he gripped one of the syringes with his free hand, sticking it into the cup of water and sucking out about sixty units of water. He squirted the water into the spoon with the pill, careful not to let it splash out. When all the water had been emptied into the spoon, he set the syringe down carefully before grabbing a lighter and lighting it after several flicks of his shaking thumb and setting the flame under the spoon. After only several moments, Naruto groaned in irritation when he felt the pill was dissolving too slowly. He stuck the handle of the spoon into his mouth, using the pointer finger of his hand holding the lighter to steady the tip of the utensil, not caring for the fact that he might burn himself as he grabbed for the syringe again, pulling out the plunger to stir the drug and help it dissolve faster.

When the pill had finally dissolved, Naruto put down the lighter, grabbing the handle of the spoon with his free hand and setting the plunger into the cup of water. He grabbed a cotton ball, ripping off a small piece and kneading it in his hands until it formed into a small sphere only slightly bigger than the pill had been before setting it into the spoon, watching as it absorbed the liquid. He grabbed another syringe, sticking the needle into the cotton and drawing out the liquid slowly and precisely.

Once the syringe had sucked up the last of the liquid and began to draw air, Naruto flipped it upside down, pushing out most of the air, careful not to expel any of the liquid before setting the syringe to his wrist, not really giving a shit if anyone saw. He wanted, no…_needed_ his hit _now_ and he wasn't going to wait to find a vein in the bend of his arm.

Sasuke knew it was time to intervene. He had seen enough and he was completely disgusted. He didn't know who he was angrier with: himself or Naruto. He should have intervened earlier but there was some sort of unfamiliar curiosity that kept him from doing so until just now. With expert precision, he threw a kunai at Naruto's hand, breaking the glass of the syringe before the needle could pierce his skin. Naruto pulled the syringe away from him out of shock as the needle fell to the floor along with some of the broken glass. He held the remaining bit of the syringe at arm's length, thinking at first that it had just spontaneously burst from some unknown force until he looked to his right, seeing a kunai embedded in his wall. He swiftly shifted his gaze to his window, unsurprised to find someone had been watching him.

"What the _fuck_ Sasuke!" he yelled as he threw the broken syringe across the room in his anger, "Do you know how much that fucking costs?"

"So is that the reason you won't live anywhere else? Because you blow all your money on some bullshit habit?" the raven asked as he let himself in, jumping through the open window to stand in the blonde's dingy apartment.

"What the fuck do you know?! Just get the hell out of my house!" he yelled before turning around and grabbing the spoon off the counter with every intention of cooking up a new fix.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sasuke replied incredulously as he stalked over to the blonde, grabbing him by the shoulder and slapping the spoon which he was cleaning out of his hand.

"I said get out!" Naruto repeated when he found Sasuke still trying to intervene before turning back around, giving Sasuke something akin to the 'cold shoulder'.

"You need help," Sasuke stated, unsure of what he should do. He hadn't expected this. He had expected a thousand things before this. _This_ hadn't even crossed his mind. But now, even as he refused to accept it, it made so much sense.

"I don't need any hel–" he began before a furious Sasuke cut him off.

"Yes. You do. You fucking idiot!" the raven screamed, barely managing to keep himself from beating the shit out of the blonde. He became even more enraged when Naruto just continued to fumble around with the items on the counter. He roughly grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and flipped him around so they were face to face once more.

"Give me that," he hissed as he grabbed the spare utensil from Naruto's clammy hands, throwing it across the room in his frustration. It slammed straight into the picture on the nightstand of Team Seven, shattering the glass frame. Sasuke winced, preparing himself to be screamed at. It was no secret that the photograph was one of Naruto's most sentimental possessions; Sasuke had caught him staring at while he held it in his lap on several occasions. Each time, Naruto would throw it into the drawer of his nightstand and swear he was just cleaning up but Sasuke knew better. And he had just broken it. Naruto was going to kill him.

"Please," the blonde begged, shocking Sasuke into silence as his breath hitched in his throat. Where had Naruto's anger gone so suddenly? He had never once in his life heard Naruto sound so desperate. Even when he was talking to Sakura all those years ago, asking for dates, he had never sounded so desperate, "Please Sasuke, I'm too tired to fight. I need it. Just let me have it. Just…"

"Naruto…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. How the hell was he supposed to know what to do? He didn't even know drug abuse was a problem in Konoha. He didn't know the first thing about how to handle this. He needed Sakura. _Naruto_ needed Sakura because Sakura would know how to help and Naruto needed _help_.

Before Sasuke could react, Naruto's knees had buckled and he landed on the ground, leaning heavily against the counter, his breathing slightly quicker than it should have been. His hands were wringing together painfully, his knuckles turning white from the tight grip his hands had on each other. And still Sasuke just watched.

"Sasuke," the blonde whined after several moments in silence, leaning his head against the cabinet with a soft thud, "Please," he begged again, a childish whimper in his voice indicating to Sasuke that he was so far gone in his mind that he didn't care that he looked this pathetic before his rival and best friend. Either that or he wanted his hit so bad that his pride meant nothing in exchange.

The thought snapped Sasuke back to reality. He spent too much time already just standing around watching. Naruto needed help _now_.

"Come on, dobe," he sighed as he kneeled down, grabbed the blonde's hands before turning around and draping them over his shoulders, holding onto his wrists tightly as he stood up, Naruto now resting on his back. Naruto's arms instinctively wrapped around themselves, holding on around Sasuke's neck comfortably but securely as Sasuke hitched the blonde further up his back, snaking his arms under his knees to get a better hold on him. Sasuke could feel the heat radiating off the blonde. His fever either hadn't broken yet, or it had just returned. Either way, he knew he couldn't leave Naruto here where all these accessories lay glistening 'innocently' in the night's sparse light. Because that's what this habit was to Sasuke: the accessory to murder of both the main suspect and the victim – Uzumaki Naruto.

"Dobe, I'm taking you to Sakura's," the raven stated as he left through the front door, closing and locking it behind him.

"No, please not Sakura-chan. This is bad enough," he whined as Sasuke raised an interested eyebrow. He had never once heard Naruto to complain when it came to visiting Sakura. During Sasuke's absence, they had both grown pretty attached to each other and, although Sakura still insulted him, she usually only did so with a loving sort of edge to her voice: the same kind most friends used when messing with each other. She had even gone as far as to threaten Sasuke himself when he returned to the village. She swore she wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he hurt Naruto like he had last time. _Shove your fist through his chest again and I shove mine through your throat_. The words still echoed oddly through his subconscious and he didn't deny that they were almost comforting to hear. He couldn't be more thrilled about the blatant fact that Sakura was so far beyond her childhood crush on him. And he wasn't sure why, but he was so glad for Naruto that Sakura had become that kind of friend for him. He was happy for him in a jealous sort of way.

"Well, I don't know how to take care of you. I need her help and so do you," the raven explained, feeling a piece of his pride shatter at having to admit he had no idea how to care for sick people.

"I don't need to be taken care of, I'm not _dying_. Please Sasuke, I don't want to bug Sakura-chan, it's already really late," he mumbled, his voice thick with the need for sleep. Sasuke sighed, feeling his resolve crumble under the pleading of the blonde.

"Fine, you can just stay at my house tonight but I'm going to talk to Sakura tomorrow," the raven stated, earning a groan of discomfort from the blonde.

"You don't want to deal with me tonight. Just leave me at home – I wanna be alone," Naruto breathed, knowing that last night was nothing; tonight his withdrawals would really peak.

"Just shut up and let someone help you for once," the raven scolded as Naruto tightened his grip slightly as shivers ran through his body, reminding him of how exhausted he was. Maybe it would be ok to just play along with Sasuke's game of 'let's be friends' if only for tonight. Or maybe he just felt too shitty to resist anymore.

It wasn't long before Naruto felt himself being lowered onto a bed, or maybe it _had_ been a long walk – he couldn't remember if he wanted to. The moment Naruto's head hit the pillow, he sat straight up, almost bumping foreheads with Sasuke who only just managed to pull back in time.

"Where's your bathroom?" he asked urgently, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he gripped his stomach with one of his hands while the other rested on the bed, steadying him. Sasuke pointed to the door on the wall to Naruto's left and he immediately bolted for the door, slamming it loudly behind him as he ran into the room. Sasuke sighed as the sound of retching reached his ears. He walked over to the door, turning the handle, half expecting it to be locked but knowing that it couldn't have been with all of Naruto's haste to reach the toilet. He opened the door to find the blonde collapsed before the porcelain bowl, leaning against the wall to the right of the toilet, panting heavily with his eyes tightly shut as he attempted to regain control over his nausea. Sasuke instinctively began rubbing the sick blonde's back in an attempt to comfort him as he continued to empty the contents of his stomach which, at this point, was merely stomach acid. Naruto would have stiffened against Sasuke's touch, but he felt too weak to even express his shock.

As Naruto continued painfully retching, the bile hitched at the top of his throat as he sucked for air, not having had a chance to properly breathe yet. He began choking on the small portion of acid that had slipped down his wind pipe, coughing until the burning slightly subsided, letting him know it was safe to once again breathe. He groaned, slumping once again against the wall as his eyes began to roll into the back of his head from exhaustion and the overwhelming exertion of completely emptying his stomach. Of all the things Naruto hated, throwing up was number one. He could handle the pain, but throwing up just made him feel vulnerable: the one thing he could never learn to deal with.

Sasuke caught the smaller boy before he began to slide sideways towards the cold, hard tile. He gently lifted him, flushed the toilet, and left the bathroom, setting Naruto back into his bed. His fever was getting worse and he was beginning to seriously worry.

"That's normal," Naruto assured in a hoarse voice when he noticed Sasuke's concern, "I told you that you wouldn't want to deal with me tonight."

"Shut up dobe. I know you've convinced yourself that I hate you but I'm not lying when I say I want to help you. I know you think you're alone but you don't have to be," Sasuke stated, earning a long stretch of silence where Naruto seemed to contemplate how to respond.

"Do you think it's true that people only start minding to things once it's too late to do anything about it? Like watering a garden – once a flower's wilted, water it won't bring it back no matter how many times you try to water it. When it's too late, it's too late. Is it guilt that drives people to try and keep things the same because they're afraid of change? Or maybe it's just fear…" the blonde trailed off, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"What are you talking about, dobe?" the raven asked, slightly irritated with the fact that he had so simply avoided the point he had brought up.

"I don't know…I guess I don't know," he admitted before turning over in the bed, turning his back on Sasuke who was staring at the back of his head, a significant amount of worry weighing heavily at the pit of his stomach. Was this what Naruto was like when he wasn't high? He seemed…sad: just…_sad_. How long had drugs been affecting his usual demeanor? Surely the happy child he had grown up with during their earlier years after graduating the academy couldn't have been a fake, could he?

"Whatever, just get some rest," the raven mumbled as he ambled over to the other side of the room, taking a seat in the chair by his desk. He knew Naruto would get up and leave if he tried to share a bed with him – or at least he assumed so – so he settled with watching the blonde from across the room where he wouldn't get yelled at. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway so the fact that he didn't have a bed didn't bother him. He was too worried and had too much on his mind to even think about sleep.

Sasuke spent a good part of the night either watching Naruto or searching through every scroll he owned, trying to find ways to ease the blonde's discomfort; so far he had no such luck. He didn't know how long he watched the blonde, but he was sure that what Naruto was getting was far from 'rest'. He tossed and turned, mumbling and whining softly through what Sasuke assumed were fever induced nightmares. He would open his eyes every few minutes and stare tiredly around the room, his eyes never really seeing anything but searching for something nonetheless. His breathing was shallow and each exhale was accompanied by a soft and almost unheard moan of discomfort.

He had given up on trying to get Naruto to and from the bathroom and had placed a garbage can next to the bed instead.

"Sasuke–" the blonde mumbled before grimacing as he gripped his stomach. Sasuke immediately perked in his direction, figuring he needed to throw up again but Naruto only groaned in pain as he clutched his stomach tighter.

"Dobe? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, worry laced in his voice as he got up and walked over to the side of the bed, brushing back the blonde locks as he felt for a temperature.

Naruto didn't respond which led Sasuke to believe he was still asleep. _Which means he's having a dream about me_…the raven concluded as he gazed at the blonde's conflicted features. He seemed to be in pain. _Or rather a nightmare_, he corrected after analyzing his expression.

Naruto opened his eyes and made significant eye contact with the raven, his eyes glazed with fever but still more alert than they had been all night, ceasing any further assumptions that he was asleep.

"Do you have anything for anxiety? Like Valium?" he asked before groaning in pain and clutching his stomach tighter, "And maybe some painkillers?" he added in an afterthought, his voice sounding weak and genuinely too hopeful.

"I don't even know what that first one is," he mumbled to himself, feeling worried and anxious for Naruto. He knew he was probably doing a terrible job of helping his best friend feel better but this really wasn't his area of expertise, "I'll – I–" he stuttered, unsure of what he should tell the blonde, "Damn it!" he cursed under his breath as he turned back towards his desk, searching through the scrolls rapidly, his sharingan spinning wildly as he hunted for any sort of hint on what he should do.

Naruto was in pain and he didn't even know how to fix it. Of course he didn't own painkillers. He was too stubborn to ever admit he needed them in the past – he never kept the damned things in his house. He really needed Sakura. He knew he couldn't help Naruto.

With that thought in mind, he summoned a shadow clone which quickly made its way towards Sakura's home. He had first considered just summoning one of his snakes to retrieve her…but he assumed she would probably kill him the moment she arrived for waking her with a snake hissing at her from her floor.

Naruto continued to fade in and out of awareness and kept asking for something to make the pain go away. Whether he was talking about physical or emotional pain, Sasuke didn't know, but it didn't make it any less pitiful to hear the blonde begging for the ache to release its hold on him. It seemed like an eternity before he heard soft knocking on his front door. He rushed out of the room and through the kitchen to let Sakura in who he quickly dragged into his room, afraid to leave Naruto alone any longer than he already had.

"Sasuke-kun! What–?" she began, cutting herself off the moment they stepped through the threshold and into the raven's room.

It only took one moment of hesitation before Sakura hurried over to the side of the bed to assess the ill blonde.

"What happened, do you know?" she asked, assuming the blonde had been hurt by the soft hums of pain and discomfort he let off with each exhale.

"He's um…" Sasuke began, suddenly feeling unsure of how to explain just what was wrong with Naruto, "He's having withdrawals," he finished, sounding unreal even to himself. It was apparent that Sakura was thinking something along the same lines by the look she was giving him.

"Withdrawals? That's not – he can't be having – what?" she questioned, unable to put a coherent sentence together. Sasuke waited while the pieces put themselves together in her mind. He watched as her expression fell from confusion to taken aback to anger and then finally heartbreaking comprehension.

"What was the…" she began before turning back towards the blonde, putting one glowing green hand over his chest, "Never mind…"she trailed off, finding the answers for herself as to what drug it was that Naruto was slowly killing himself with. She reached for a scroll in her hip pack, placing it on the floor and performing several quick hand seals which produced a small cloud of smoke over the paper which revealed several glass bottles and a syringe when it dispersed. She grabbed the syringe and a small brown bottle, sticking the needle into the liquid and drawing out a measured amount.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, as she grabbed the blonde's wrist, prying it from his stomach and searching for a vein in the bend of his arm. Sasuke watched as the muscles seemed to spasm, causing Naruto to moan in discomfort as he tried to pull his arm back into the comfort of himself. That must have been the cause of his pain – his muscles were all cramping simultaneously.

"It's called an opioid antagonist. It's basically a replacement for what Naruto was taking but it's less potent. It should help with the withdrawals," she stated as she continued searching for a suitable vein, "Oh, Naruto," she sighed as she gave up, grabbing his other arm and finding it much in the same condition as the previous, "What have you done to yourself?" she asked herself quietly, finally spotting a vein and plunging the needle into the skin before administering the drug.

It was only moments before Naruto began to relax, sighing in relief as the replacement drug took effect. Sakura shifted her gaze to Sasuke who returned the look before she jerked her head towards the bedroom door, suggesting they go talk outside.

"When did you–" she began as the door closed, "When did you find out and how come you didn't tell me?" she asked, in a scolding tone.

"A few hours ago and because Naruto was begging for me not to," the raven defended as Sakura's hardened expression softened after hearing his explanation.

"What are we going to do?" the pink haired kunoichi asked softly as she folded her arms over her chest, "I honestly don't really know what to do. I mean – I know how to deal with this sort of stuff on a medic to patient basis but…this is so much different."

"Well what's the first thing you would suggest for a patient in Naruto's position?" Sasuke asked, feeling that was a good place to start.

"Well, I guess I'd suggest rehab but I can't honestly see Naruto settling for that option. We definitely can't leave him alone right now; the first couple of months after recovering from a drug addiction are the most crucial because it's when most addicts relapse, which is where the main problem lies: Naruto lives alone," Sakura mused.

"He can move in with me, I have plenty of room, but I doubt he'll want to. He's only been angry with me lately – you know – more so than usual."

"Well it doesn't matter what he wants. We'll make him move because that's what he needs," she stated as she shifted her gaze to the bedroom door, "I'm going to talk to Kakashi- sensei tomorrow morning; Naruto won't be able to train for a couple days. Do you want me to stay here for now?" she asked, assuming Sasuke didn't want to be left alone with Naruto in the state he was in.

"Please?" he asked as she smiled at his insecurity. That was one thing he was completely useless with: taking care of other people. If the situation were different, she probably would have laughed; he had seemed so urgent to get her to come over when in all reality, Naruto was just fine. Sure, he was probably feeling like hell, but the idea of Sasuke actually worrying that much about the blonde was heartwarming in a way.

"Ok," she breathed, smiling lightly before turning back towards the door, pausing slightly with her hand on the door knob as questions flew through her mind; questions she knew she'd never get an answer to. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind as she pushed open the door, letting herself into the spacious room and taking a seat on the bed next to the blonde. Sasuke took his seat at his desk, busying himself with putting away the mountain of scrolls littering the surface.

Naruto's withdrawals seemed to ease almost immediately. His fever was beginning to drop and he was no longer throwing up. He finally seemed to be able to sleep, his breathing evening out into a softly audible intake and exhale. Sakura had dosed off, leaning against the headrest of the bed while Sasuke kept dipping in and out of sleep as he rested his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his desk. His head fell through his hands and onto the desk with a dull thud, waking Naruto in the process who jerked awake before shutting his eyes once again, listening for any indication that his teammates might have been awake. He heard Sakura's steady even breathing and couldn't help but smirk at hearing a faint snore coming from Sasuke. It was quiet but it was there. Sasuke was probably exhausted.

Naruto cracked his eyes open, shifting slowly and as quietly as possible out from under the covers. He didn't want his team to wake up and he prayed that his years of stealth training wouldn't fail him now. He reached for the window and slowly slid it open, wincing when a torrent of chirping birds echoed into the quiet room. He slowly looked back over his shoulder and noticed that neither of his teammates seemed to have woken up. He propped himself up on the ledge, before he felt a tug at the back of his shirt, which, had he not been held up, would have shocked him into falling to the ground outside.

"And just where do you think you're going, dobe?"

---

Uhoh! Naruto's gotta face what he's gotta face now! No running! Man up! Lol ok I'm done.

Review? It makes me update faster :)


	3. You Let It Show

**Chapter Three: You Let It Show**

"Where do you think you're going, dobe?" Sasuke asked as he grabbed Naruto by the arm, attempting to drag him back inside.

"Leave me alone, asshole," Naruto replied, his voice filled with hostility as he ripped his arm from Sasuke's grip, the momentum sending him into the dirt under the windowsill as he landed on his back with a painful thud.

"God, you're an idiot," Sasuke sighed as he reached over the ledge, grabbing Naruto under the armpits and hoisting him back into the room.

"Stop fucking calling me names!" Naruto yelled as he threw a punch at Sasuke who easily dodged by tilting his head to the left. He quickly released the blonde who stumbled slightly under his own weight before grabbing a tan wrist and twisting it painfully behind Naruto's back, slamming him roughly up against the wall.

"Don't _fuck_ with me dobe," Sasuke hissed, clearly quite angry with the blonde for reasons Naruto didn't know as of yet.

"Don't fuck with _you_?! _I'm_ not the one that broke into someone else's house and broke a bunch of stuff that that person happened to like _a lot_!" Naruto screamed, and Sasuke was positive he was referring to the photograph he had pretty much destroyed, "_I'm_ not the one that got involved in something I should've stayed out of! I had everything under control and you're fucking it all up!"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not entirely sure how that could even make sense. He assumed it might have in Naruto's skewed reality.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura began uneasily from the other side of the room. Sasuke had completely forgotten about her until just now and he almost wished that she'd leave for the time being.

"Not now, Sakura," Sasuke replied coolly.

"I'm going to go talk to Kakashi-sensei," she continued, only slightly taken aback by his icy behavior.

"No! Stop! Sakura-chan don't!" Naruto yelled, the desperation clear in his tone as he struggled fruitlessly against Sasuke, "Please don't! Kakashi-sensei can't know! I swear it's not a big deal! It was like a onetime thing!" he screamed, his voice becoming hoarse from the use. The dread in the pit of his stomach was making him nauseas as he watched the situation slowly grow worse. It was bad enough that Sasuke and Sakura knew. Kakashi just couldn't know. The idea was stressing him out. The anxiety was making it difficult to breathe and before he knew it, Sasuke's grip had loosened on him and he was sliding to the floor, unconscious before he hit the ground.

---

"Sasuke-kun! Let him go he's having a panic attack!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke immediately released his hold on the blonde who couldn't seem to fill his lungs with air. His eyes rolled back and his body went slack, the relaxation allowing his lungs to continue pulling in oxygen to his bloodstream once more.

Sasuke caught him just before he hit the ground, relieved to see his chest rising and falling with each slow and steady breath he took. He glanced back over his shoulder, catching Sakura's worried gaze with his own.

"Go talk to Kakashi. I'll make sure Naruto's alright when he wakes up," the raven insisted in a tone that suggested the words he really meant were, 'get the hell out because there's about to be an all out brawl the second this idiot regains consciousness'.

Sakura nodded softly before taking her leave, Sasuke watching as she softly closed the door behind her. He shifted his gaze back to Naruto whose unconscious form was making no attempt to wake up. When the hell had things become so fucked up? And why hadn't he done something about it earlier? He didn't know who to be angry with; was he supposed to be mad at himself…or Naruto? Because he seemed to have plenty of anger to spare for the both of them.

Although, he knew that most of his anger was a façade his emotions put on to mask the regret and guilt – and mainly the guilt.

Because the guilt hurt too much.

Worst of all, he knew he deserved to be guilty. Naruto had slipped beyond any of their grasps without so much as a silent whispered warning – at least that's how he remembered it. But there had probably been warnings. There had probably been signs. There had probably been Naruto himself standing in a clearing screaming for help. But none of them saw it. None of them paid enough attention to recognize his voice. None of them had the guts to realize that their anchor had long lost his own foothold on sanity.

No, Sasuke deserved to feel guilty because he had seen the signs, he had heard the screams. He just didn't have the strength to admit that it might even cost his own sanity to save that of his friend's.

---

"So that's what's been going on, hm?" Kakashi mused as he rubbed his bottom lip in thought, "Ok, tell him to meet me out here anyway. You and Sasuke aren't required to attend today. You can have the day off," the silver haired man finished, choosing to ignore Sakura's questioning glance.

"Aren't required?" she asked, unsure of what that meant exactly. Shinobi were never given the option of attending or not attending. They were either told to do something or clearly ordered to stay put. She didn't quite know what to do with this freedom.

"Just…stay out of the way, if you do come," he stated earning a taken aback look from the pink haired kunoichi who just nodded before turning back towards Sasuke's home.

Sakura walked slowly, allowing her suppressed feelings to surface momentarily; no one was watching. She didn't have to be strong for anyone while she was alone. Her hands curled into fists as she willed away the urge to cry. It was always her team. She wondered if any of the other teams had similar issues to hers but she highly doubted it. None of the other teams had kids as fucked up as Sasuke and Naruto. Sure, everyone had their own problems but…none of them had pasts even remotely similar to theirs. Even if some of them had experienced deaths in the family, she knew for a fact that none of them could even try to relate to Naruto. Only Gaara could possibly understand how he felt and he wasn't here, nor would he be able to just set his job as Kazekage aside just to attempt to make Naruto feel better.

She knew it was up to her and Sasuke to try and fix this. God help her because she _knew_ she didn't even know where to start. It was like wondering where to start with a room someone made a mess of; she knew finding the energy to unearth the place to start would be one of the hardest parts, followed by keeping the momentum to continue and finally the energy to finish.

She dried the stray tears she couldn't hold back as she scolded herself for even thinking of Naruto's situation as a chore before opening the front door to Sasuke's home, not bothering to knock.

She could see the door at the end of the hall and heard two angry voices yelling at each other and she knew that the second Naruto regained consciousness they had probably been at each others' throats. She couldn't make out anything either of them were saying since they insisted on screaming over each other, their words colliding in midair and forming a mess of words probably only they could understand. She opened the door, silencing the verbal fight the moment the handle hit the wall when the door swung the entire way open. If the situation had been different, she might have laughed in spite of Naruto. His wrists were wrapped with wire, pinning him to the wall with kunai which he struggled so roughly against that he was drawing blood from one of them. His struggling ceased the second she caught his eyes and she almost regretted speaking with Kakashi. He looked absolutely heartbroken to see her and she figured it was because he was remembering exactly why he had panicked himself into unconsciousness to begin with.

"Kakashi-sensei wants to speak with you, Naruto," she stated softly, shifting her gaze to the floor in something akin to shame. She knew she was doing the right thing but…she couldn't look into those accusing eyes any longer. He looked absolutely betrayed.

"You heard Sakura-chan, you fucker. Let me go," Naruto spat as he threw Sasuke a dirty look who returned the gesture full force before flicking his wrist and releasing the blonde instantaneously.

Naruto stumbled slightly before gaining his footing, rubbing his wrist just above where the wire cut into it in an attempt to sooth the sharp aching.

"Do you want me to heal that?" Sakura asked, trying her best to sound genuinely sorry for talking to Kakashi when he so desperately didn't want her to.

"It's fine. It'll heal on its own," he stated curtly, not even throwing her so much as a glance as he walked out of the room, ignoring the two worried stares he was receiving from his teammates. He heard them quickly snap out of their angry and disappointed trances as their footsteps sounded off behind him. He sighed to himself. If they were coming then he'd have absolutely no chance of ditching whatever Kakashi had planned for him.

"I can get there by myself," he snapped as he turned to glare mainly at Sasuke.

"I doubt it," Sasuke threw back, earning a flash of angry red from Naruto's eyes.

Naruto seemed as if he had something to say before turning around, once again heading towards the training grounds, biting back the urge to punch Sasuke in the face for always acting like he was better than him.

It wasn't long before they reached the training grounds and Naruto glared over his shoulder at Sasuke, a look of something akin to 'go away now' plastered all over his face.

It was only when he and Sakura caught the same look on Kakashi's face that they actually did 'go away'.

"What do you want, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked when Sasuke and Sakura had disappeared from view.

"It's not about what I want. It's about what you want," Kakashi began, pretending to gaze interestedly at the kunai in his hand, "So, you want to feel numb, huh?" Kakashi asked as he threw the weapon at the blonde who dodged it shakily, counterattacking with several shuriken.

"Shut up! Like you would understand!" Naruto yelled back, too frustrated to have paid close enough attention to Kakashi's position. Before he knew it, he was taking a hard blow at the small of his back, sending him skidding across the training grounds. He rolled over before getting up to face the silver haired jounin who had never looked so…hurt. With just one eye, Kakashi was conveying so many emotions that Naruto didn't know he was even capable of feeling…or showing. From just one eye, Naruto could see that Kakashi seemed sad and angry and frustrated and upset. And he had caused all that.

"You really are an idiot Naruto," Kakashi stated as he walked slowly over to the blonde who tensed in his defensive stance.

"Why would you even care what I do in my spare time? That's not your job. And it's not affecting the success rate of our missions since we haven't failed one since so there's no reason you should be angry with me," the kitsune countered.

"I couldn't care less about our missions Naruto! I'm mad because you didn't come to me first," the man explained, sounding desperate for the blonde to just understand that. His tone caused Naruto to drop his stance as he dropped his hands, straightening up and staring at the ground before him. What was he supposed to say to that?

"When did this start and why?" Kakashi asked, not waiting for Naruto to find the words to reply with. His posture seemed like a good enough show of remorse to him.

"Like you don't know," Naruto spat back, suddenly feeling angry once more. It always made him angry to think of everything that brought about his habit. Kakashi knew all about his past so why did he even have to ask?

"Because you feel like you're alone?"

"Because I _felt_ that way," the blonde corrected, somehow feeling the need to explain that it wasn't how he was feeling right now. Kakashi wasn't sure if that was Naruto's way of trying to make himself feel better or if it was his way of apologizing and trying to make Kakashi feel better. Or maybe it was a feeble attempt of worming his way out of talking about how he felt.

"When was the last time you talked to someone about how you…felt?" Kakashi asked, keeping up with Naruto's insistence of past tense.

"I know everyone's convinced that talking makes people's problems go away but they don't. When was the last time complaining about something made it go away? I'm a perfect example of that," the blonde explained, feeling rather bitter about the fact that it was completely true how perfect of an example of it he really was. There wasn't a day that went by where at least one villager didn't complain about his presence and he had yet to disappear. That was pretty much when he learned that complaining never got anyone anywhere.

"Naruto, you're confusing two different things as one in the same. Complaining and talking aren't the same thing. I know it sounds redundant and probably cliché but you can't just bottle up how you're feeling," Kakashi stated, knowing that he _did_ sound too cliché for his own good.

"I'm not…feeling anything. Just angry. Maybe I'm incapable of anything else. I am a demon after all," the blonde confessed in a softly bitter tone. Although Naruto sounded only as if he were humoring that common misconception, Kakashi couldn't help but worry that there was possibly an identity crisis that might have been an underlying factor somewhere along the many issues Naruto had lined up along the years. But he would have to get to that later.

"I think you're feeling angry to cover up something that hurts a lot mo–"

"This is stupid!" Naruto interrupted clenching his fists tightly as he willed away the deeply buried feelings attempting to resurface themselves, "I don't need to talk about anything because there's nothing to talk about! I've been on my own for sixteen years and I've been just fine so thanks for the concern but I don't need your help."

"It's very clear that you're not just fine. When are you going to understand you're not alone anymore?" the silver haired man asked as Naruto shifted his gaze away, unable to look the man in the eye anymore.

"It's great that I have something close to a couple friends now but…that doesn't change the twelve years I spent before I met someone who would hold a conversation with me, even if most of the conversations I hold with people are just people insulting me in some way. And that fact aside, it doesn't change the opinion of the entire village," he stated turning away slightly as he shifted his gaze further away still, "Or my opinion of myself…" he trailed off quietly enough to feel confident that no one had heard.

"You aren't the only one who had to learn how deal with being alone, dobe," Sasuke interjected, trying to connect with the blonde on some level who was gaping in his direction, obviously shocked to find him still here. Maybe if Naruto understood that he and Sasuke could relate, he could learn to open up rather than rely on the needles. After recovering from the shock of seeing Sasuke whom he had assumed left the area, Naruto immediately felt his anger spike. Fine, if Sasuke wanted to intervene, he'd give him a reason to regret it.

"Sasuke–" Kakashi began before being cut off by a furious Naruto.

"It's so much different for you Sasuke! You don't even fucking get it. At least you're not the bane of the entire village's existence. At least people _like_ you! I can probably count on one hand the people who don't hate me for something I had _no fucking control over!_ And those people keep dying! Out of just my own team the only one who doesn't openly show his disgust with me is Kakashi-sensei and that's either because he isn't allowed to or he's just too lazy. So you know what it feels like to come home to an empty house? Yeah, well so what! At least people care about you! At least every morning you don't have to wake up worrying about who might be trying to kill you that night! At least you can feel safe in your own village! Do you have any idea what it's like trying to decide if food is important enough to risk getting beat up over because every time you leave your house you get jumped? Or how it feels when no one will sell you food anyway so you got your ass kicked for no good fucking reason? You have _no_ idea what it's like being a jinchuuriki. Maybe I don't really know what a father is but I would have fucking loved to for at least a few years of my life! So fuck you Sasuke! Just fuck off!"

Sasuke was speechless. Not because it wasn't true, but because he honestly didn't know how to respond to what Naruto had said. It was much easier disagreeing with Naruto, because the easy thing to do when they both ran out of insults to scream at each other was to just start throwing punches, and finding the energy to hit each other usually came from disagreeing with each other. But…Sasuke didn't disagree with anything Naruto had just said. He agreed so much it hurt. It hurt even worse knowing that if he had looked at the situation hard enough, he probably could have figured it out on his own and done something about it _before_ it got this bad. He had neglected Naruto's fake smiles for too long: had depended on Naruto's forced happiness for too long. Naruto had been his rock during the hardest times in his life and now it was time to give at least that much back.

Kakashi was stunned. Was that what Naruto really thought about him and the rest of his team? He felt as if he should defend himself – assure the blonde that none of them detested his presence one bit. But he knew he shouldn't. Because this wasn't his moment. This was between Sasuke and Naruto and right now he felt as if he were intruding upon it even if it _was_ Sasuke who had actually been the one to intrude. But if he hadn't, Naruto probably wouldn't have confessed as much as he had just now.

"You're right," Sasuke began as Naruto's glare softened into a confused gaze, "I don't have any idea what being a jinchuuriki is like. But that doesn't make me deaf. I can still listen when you need to talk. I don't know why you're pushing the idea of our friendship away so much. Whatever you're hiding behind all that anger…you can talk to me about it."

Naruto seemed to just stare at the raven, his mouth slightly agape and looking almost taken aback. His lips didn't even try to form words because he knew he didn't have anything to say. He knew the words would die before they even reached his tongue. Where the hell had his anger gone? It was so much easier yelling and screaming about how nothing was his fault. He loved the lies he brainwashed himself with. Because reality was too hard to face sane. He much preferred his fringed insanity. But why the hell couldn't he cling to it now? Why was his mind driving out all the perfect madness he spent years building up? What was it about Sasuke that made his mind so clear: too clear? He didn't know that tears began to stream down his face until he felt a sob hitch in his throat and heard himself attempt to choke it down.

Sasuke's features softened just slightly and Naruto knew that was his way of expressing what he assumed was pity. Naruto quickly rubbed his cheeks with the back of his hand as he turned away from the raven, his free hand clenching into a frustrated fist.

"It's ok to cry," Sasuke stated in a soft voice as he grabbed Naruto's tan wrist, halting his attempt to continue rubbing any trace of tears from his face away. Naruto narrowed his eyes and stared at Sasuke with a defensively confused glare.

"I know that," he mumbled, shrugging off Sasuke's grasp on his wrist.

"Then why are you holding back?"

"I'm not. I don't know where that came from," the blonde mumbled sheepishly. Sasuke bit back his frustration. This would be so much easier if Naruto would just let himself admit that he was feeling sad. But he knew that the easy way wouldn't be happening. That would have been too much like a story tale ending which he knew didn't exist.

"I'm going home," the blonde mumbled before turning to leave before Sasuke caught his shoulder.

He assumed now was as good a time as any to drop the ball.

"Naruto, you're moving in with me."

---

Ok so that's it for now! Sorry it was so short! I just figured that was as good a place as any to stop. Plus I'm starting school (yep…goin' back to college..ack!) so I'll be super busy. I figured I'd update shorter chapters more often. Reviewsmakemeupdatefaster! Mah!


	4. Don't Make Me Sleep Alone

**Chapter Four: Don't Make Me Sleep Alone**

"Naruto, you're moving in with me," Sasuke informed, tensing slightly as he waited for the outburst he knew would come. Naruto was gaping at him, giving him a gracelessly disgusted look.

"Moving in – no, I'm not," Naruto denied, not sounding all too sure. He shifted his gaze to Kakashi as if searching for someone to yell out, 'Just kidding!'

Kakashi merely just held his gaze, a hardened look in his eye that told Naruto it was true. Naruto seemed to contemplate something before becoming all too complacent with the idea.

"Fine. But I have to go pack so I'll be over in a couple minutes," he stated as he went to make a hand seal.

"Not so fast, dobe. You think I'm stupid?" Sasuke asked as he grabbed Naruto's wrist, halting him from forming the final seal to a sequence he knew all too well. He didn't even know Naruto knew how to use the transportation jutsu. What the hell else did he not know about Naruto?

"We'll go there together. You'll grab your shit, the necessary stuff, no _junk_," Sasuke began, emphasizing the word to get his point across that Naruto wasn't allowed to even go near that kitchen drawer, "And I'll be checking what you bring so don't do anything stupid."

"Fuck you," Naruto spat as he ripped his hand out of Sasuke's before performing the hand seals once again at a speed Sasuke didn't know Naruto was capable of.

"Damn it!" Sasuke swore as he, too, transported himself to the blonde's apartment, leaving Kakashi quite forgotten in the middle of the training grounds.

"Naruto you idiot!" Sasuke yelled as he tackled the blonde to the floor who was quickly making his way to his kitchen where the contents of the drawer were still strewn across the floor, "Will you just knock it off damn it!"

"Shut up Sasuke! You can't tell me what to do!" Naruto screamed back as he reached out, grabbing a syringe and plunging it deep into Sasuke's arm in an attempt to throw him off. Sasuke merely just growled in irritation as he ripped it out and attempted to pin Naruto down, but his tan arm slipped from his grip and reached again for a plastic bag of the same pill Sasuke saw him try to drug himself with just last night.

Sasuke grabbed the drug and threw it across the apartment, earning a frustrated whine from the blonde who saw nothing else to grab within his arm span. Sasuke spun the blonde over so he was flat on his back before straddling his hips and grabbing both his wrists to make sure he couldn't try to pull another stunt like that.

But it did little to make him give up.

Naruto twisted and struggled until one of his hands broke free and he attempted to hit Sasuke who merely sat up further, the fist never meeting anything other than air. Sasuke grabbed two kunai and a length of wire before quickly wrapping Naruto's captured wrist and driving the kunai deep into the floor boards. He gave the other wrist similar treatment once he recaptured it. Naruto was shaking with fury – fury that burned into a deep red, washing out his once deep blue eyes. His whiskers became more pronounced and his canines grew until they hit his bottom lip and Sasuke couldn't help but feel an odd sensation he wasn't familiar with at how feral the boy looked when he got like this.

Sasuke was positive he loved how Naruto looked when he was angry.

"You should have just accepted help the easy way, idiot," Sasuke hissed as he formed a single hand seal that made Naruto hesitate in his struggle out of familiar curiosity. He'd seen this once before and all he could recall was dread. Sasuke wasn't about to do something pleasant. Five purple flames formed, one on each finger, and Naruto began to struggle once more, the familiarity coming back full force. He remembered now where he saw this. Orochimaru had used this technique on him during the chuunin exams and he remembered hating absolutely everything about having that seal on him. Back then, he hadn't even known what it had done to him, but he _did_ know it left him unconscious and considerably weaker for a considerable amount of time after. It wasn't until after his first time training with Jiraiya that he remembered feeling back to normal again. He didn't learn what it actually was until after his two and a half year training session with the perverted man. And the thought that Sasuke was going to perform that seal on him made his anger spike to a new level.

Sasuke lifted up Naruto's shirt as he pulled back his hand, preparing himself for the task he had at hand, "Gogoyo Fuuin!" (Five Element Seal)

His fingers slammed into Naruto's stomach with a precision that shouldn't be natural for someone's first time at performing the task of sealing off a demon's chakra. Naruto choked at the sudden loss of air as his eyes were forced back to their original cerulean hue and the feral slits rounded out to his normal pupils. His whiskered faded back to soft lines and his features involuntarily softened; if he'd had the energy, he would have looked angrier. But the darkness at the edges of his mind was clawing at him and he could feel himself slowly giving into its alluring pull.

"Sasuke," the blonde began, pleading with his eyes, "Please just – I need it Sasuke," he whispered as his head lolled to the side, his cheek resting on the cold tile floor of his kitchen, his eyes resting longingly on the discarded plastic bag of numbing drugs.

"I know dobe," Sasuke whispered back, watching as the blonde blinked tiredly in reply. Sasuke didn't know which was worse – being on the receiving end of all of Naruto's pent up anger, or having to witness his moments of utter weakness in the face of withdrawals.

Sasuke relaxed and removed his hand from Naruto's stomach when he saw the blonde slip into a forced state of unconsciousness. He felt bad for having to resort to this, but Naruto was becoming shockingly overpowering. Sasuke didn't know if it was the result of desperation pulsing through his veins or the lack of the impairing drug in his system that made his teammate suddenly so capable of fighting back. Either way, he knew he wouldn't have been able to restrain Naruto much longer once his anger had tapped him in to Kyuubi's overwhelming chakra supply.

He slowly unwrapped Naruto's wrists, noticing that his earlier cuts had already healed and thanked his luck that no new ones had been made in the recent struggle due to the fact that Kyuubi wouldn't be as useful as he normally would have been if the seal wasn't there. Sasuke noted to himself that the fact that he had already tied Naruto up twice today could have probably been considered something akin to kinky.

He left Naruto where he was for now before making his way to the blonde's dresser, grabbing a bag and filling it with everything he figured was necessary and only one item he figured wasn't. He held the broken picture frame over the garbage can, shaking all the broken glass out into the container until there was no glass left in the wooden casing before slipping it, too, into the bag. (1)

Sasuke didn't know how he did it, but he had somehow managed to get the backpack on Naruto's back so that he could carry the blonde home on his own back. He slipped out the front door, closing and locking it behind him as he went before quickly making his way down the staircase and away from the rundown apartment complex.

Sasuke hitched Naruto up further onto his back as he tightened his grip around Naruto's legs which were looped through his arms before taking off towards his home, praying for some sort of guidance on what to do once he got there. He knew what to do with Naruto's body – lay it on the couch until he regained consciousness – but what was he supposed to do with Naruto's shattered mind? How was he supposed to fix the fragile glass cognition of his teammate that had been slowly grinded into fine sand?

Once he had reached his home, he was unsurprised to find Sakura sitting on the front doorstep, her head resting in her hands, elbows resting on her knees. He had told her to wait at his home while he checked out what was going on between Kakashi and Naruto and, like the obedient kunoichi she had always been, she did was she was told. She lifted her head when she heard his soft footsteps slowly approaching.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked tiredly, the tone in her voice asking a million questions of its own.

Sasuke just motioned for her to follow him inside where he laid Naruto down gently on the couch before turning to face her.

"You're bleeding," she noticed, her hand hovering over the area Naruto had stabbed him with the needle.

"Forget about it," Sasuke began as he swatted her hand away, "I dunno what to do, Sakura," he confessed as he waved his hand towards Naruto, the distress hardly clear in his features, but clear enough for Sakura to pick up on it, "He's – he–" the raven stuttered, having a difficult time putting the sentence he wanted together, "When did things get this fucked up?!" he yelled, shocking her a bit. The only time Sasuke ever yelled was when he was fighting with Naruto and even _then_ it was rare. She had never been on the receiving end of his frustration and it was a bit overwhelming. She didn't know how Naruto was able to constantly reflect the threatening chakra he was unconsciously radiating when he was angry or irritated.

"We'll figure something out. We'll get through this. All of us," the pink haired kunoichi assured before grabbing Sasuke's wrist and sending healing chakra through his forearm, healing the small cut before he could protest.

"Naruto's probably going to be out for the rest of the night. You should go home and get some rest," Sasuke suggested as she released her hold on his arm.

"Why?" she questioned, remembering her earlier curiosity as to why he was once again unconscious.

"I kind of…" Sasuke began, trailing off as he shot a glance at the blonde, "I kind of sealed off the Kyuubi seal with a five point seal," he stated, knowing that Sakura was educated enough with seals to know what that would do.

"Sasuke-kun!" she chided as she too shot Naruto a glance.

"Don't lift it," Sasuke warned, not even entirely sure if she was capable or not, "He's incredibly powerful when he gets angry and I have a feeling I'm gonna have a hard enough time trying to control him without having to battle the Kyuubi too."

Sakura just continued to stare at the blonde, a tired and conflicted look adorning her features. She knew Sasuke was right. Kyuubi needed to be restrained.

"Sakura, go home and get some rest," Sasuke repeated, earning the attention of the girl once more, "I'll call for you if Naruto needs anything."

Sakura nodded slowly before whispering a soft, "Ok," and slowly heading for the front door, "You know, you can call me if you need anything too," she reminded before softly closing the door behind her.

"Sakura," Sasuke began as he caught the door just before it closed, "Do you and Kakashi want to come over for dinner? I–" he began, unsure of how to explain his insecurity with being alone with Naruto just yet.

But thankfully, Sakura was perceptive enough to pick up on it.

"We'll be over at six," she assured before closing the door behind her, this time uninterrupted.

Sasuke returned his attention to the blonde lying on his couch. He wondered if Naruto would even be conscious by that time and he almost hoped he wouldn't be. He didn't know how much more of Naruto's wrath he could handle today.

But he hated this unconscious state as well. He wanted Naruto's old annoying habits back. He wanted Naruto to sit up and talk about nonsense until his ears were sore. He wanted him to laugh at everything like he used to.

But would he ever return to the same kind of person he once was? How much of Naruto's constant good mood was influenced by drugs? Was this – the angry and frustrated person lying unconscious on his couch – the real person no one ever saw because he was constantly being sedated by drugs? And what was going to become of their team if it was?

---

It wasn't until a half past four that Naruto slowly regained consciousness. Sasuke expected yelling. He expected fighting, screaming, things being thrown in his direction. He expected almost everything before what he got. Naruto didn't even make eye contact with him; he merely stared unseeingly at the ceiling as if looking straight through it towards something more capturing beyond its confides. He looked akin to the epiphany of contentment.

"Naruto?" Sasuke began, earning a sidelong glare from the blonde, "Are you angry with me?" he asked, unsure of if he really wanted the answer. He didn't know what had possessed him to ask that question, but it was out before he could swallow it down.

"I'm pissed. If I wasn't so fucking tired, thanks to you, I'd beat the hell out of you," Naruto assured, backing up his malice with the hatred burning in his eyes.

"I'm sorry–" he began, unable to even meet Naruto's icy blue eyes anymore.

"Can I take a shower?" Naruto interrupted as he sat up slowly, gripping the backrest to steady himself.

Sasuke seemed to contemplate whether or not he should let the blonde be alone, locked up in the bathroom for god only knows how long.

"Teme," Naruto growled in warning when he noticed the confliction flashing behind Sasuke's eyes. He wanted a shower damn it and Sasuke wasn't going to stop him.

"Alright, alright," Sasuke began waving his hand to calm the blonde down, "But you're not allowed to lock the door or get angry with me if I feel the need to check up on you."

"Yea right! Fuck you!"

"Do you have something to hide, dobe?" Sasuke asked, slight aggression apparent in his tone.

"No, asshole," the blonde mumbled.

"Then that shouldn't be a problem," Sasuke resolved as he left the room, motioning for the blonde to follow.

Naruto sighed loudly and dramatically to show Sasuke his irritation as he followed the raven towards the washroom.

Sasuke grabbed a book off the bookcase as they passed it before opening the door, waving his hand for Naruto to step inside. Naruto did as he was told, glaring at Sasuke the entire way until Sasuke, too, stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Get out!" Naruto yelled, his voice reverberating loudly off the tile walls.

"No," the raven replied shortly as he sat himself down on the toilet, opening his book and apparently quite unfazed by Naruto's aggressive demeanor.

"Sasuke, get out!" he demanded once more, earning a raised eyebrow.

"No, Naruto. Now just shut up and take your shower. Jesus, what are you? A girl?"

"No, asshole. I'm a guy. And so are you. So get out you fucking queer!" the blonde insulted, feeling a slight pang in his chest that made him feel as if he, too, had been insulted by his own biting words. Sasuke snapped his book shut as he glared up at Naruto.

"You're ignorant, dobe. Don't use that word around me."

Naruto was slightly taken aback – so much so that he had suddenly forgotten his anger.

"Are you – Oi, Sasuke, are you gay?" Naruto asked, his voice filled with the closest imitation to an apologetic tone as it could get.

"No, but Itachi was. He had to kill his boyfriend during the Uchiha massacre."

"The – so Itachi's boyfriend was an Uchiha?" the blonde asked, his curiosity completely washing over his long forgotten anger as he slipped out of his jacket.

"I know what you're thinking, idiot. They were in no way related. People _do_ marry into the clan and when they do, they're required to take our surname, or at least they used to be," Sasuke corrected, reminding himself that there wasn't still a clan to supervise that these rules remain intact, "Uchiha Shisui told my brother to kill him before he began his mission of destroying the clan. He said he'd acquire enough power to kill everyone if he did. I have no idea how he convinced my brother to do it, but he did. That's how he got the Mangekyou sharingan." 2

Naruto's lips formed a soft 'oh' of understanding as he shifted his gaze to the floor, feeling like an absolute asshole for using such a demeaning word. Really, he saw nothing wrong with people being gay, but he just wanted to piss off Sasuke. And the word had the exact opposite effect; if anything, he just dug into a deep scar Sasuke had been trying to get over for most of his life. And knowing that made him feel like crap.

"I'm sorry," the blonde began as Sasuke lifted a hand to silence him.

"Take your shower, dobe," the raven replied shortly as he flipped his book open once more.

"Sasuke can you _please_ leave?" Naruto attempted once more, giving the polite route a shot.

"No."

And suddenly, as quickly as it had seemed to evaporate, Naruto's anger had returned and he was about ready to throw Sasuke out the window. He heaved a loud and irritated sigh once again as he stepped into the shower almost fully clothed before pulling the shower curtain closed roughly to better emphasize his point before his clothes began to fly over the top of the curtain rod one by one. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at Naruto's childish behavior.

Naruto grabbed the faucet, turning it roughly and swearing loudly as the showerhead poured chilled water over him.

"_Fuck_ _you_ Sasuke! God damn it!" he swore as he did his best to dodge the cold stream of water, blaming his chilled situation entirely on the raven. If Sasuke hadn't been here, he would have at least been able to wait outside the shower while it warmed up.

"Is that what you want dobe? To fuck me?" Sasuke shot back in a monotonous tone, his eyes trained on the book in his lap. God, Naruto was such an easy target for verbal abuse.

"You wish," Naruto assured before adding on a mumbled, "stupid fucker."

"Make sure you wash that mouth out while you're in there."

"Why don't you try and make me?"

"Was that a challenge, dobe?" Sasuke asked, loudly snapping his book shut once more as he rose from where he was sitting.

"No! Leave me alone!" Naruto screamed back, causing Sasuke to smirk once again. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but one of these days he was going to find a good enough reason to get into that shower while Naruto was using it.

And as soon as the thought entered his mind, he quickly shooed it away, reminding himself that those were dangerous thoughts that he blamed his teenage hormones on.

While he was busy trying to clear his mind, he heard the shower shut off and saw Naruto grab the towel hanging on the towel rack.

"Did you at least bring me clean clothes?" Naruto asked, as he wrapped the towel around his waist.

"Aa," Sasuke confirmed as he got up from the toilet seat, "I'll go get them," he finished, assuming that he could leave Naruto alone for fifteen seconds without having to worry. When he returned, he noticed that Naruto had thrown back the shower curtain and he was faced with a mostly naked blonde standing in his bathroom, beads of water still dripping down his lean body, his hair only slightly flattened by the water but still ridiculously gravity resistant. Sasuke dropped the bag on the counter and turned, leaving he room, closing the door behind him without another word. He hoped he hadn't looked obvious.

_The fuck?_ Sasuke thought to himself as he quickly whipped his nose to make sure there wasn't any blood dripping from it. He never remembered once in his life that he had ever actually had to suppress an oncoming nosebleed. And he had more half naked women throwing themselves at him than he could even begin to count. It was hilarious how teenage girls' minds worked. For reasons Sasuke could never understand, they always seemed to think 'the less clothes the better'. Sasuke himself couldn't have disagreed more. He wondered when they would ever pick up on the less than subtle hints that he was absolutely disgusted by how little they left to his imagination.

Naruto on the other hand – sure they had bathed together in onsens before, but other than that, Naruto pretty much left everything there was to the imagination. Sasuke had to snort at the thought. Of course he left everything to the imagination. He was a freakin' guy! He wasn't out to impress anyone with the shortest skirt legal.

But even when he and Sasuke did bathe together, he never remembered reacting like he just had. He never remembered feeling whatever it was that had just pulsed through his veins. He had never been more affected by Naruto's attractive figure.

Although, when Sasuke thought back on it, the last time they had bathed together in a public bath was before he abandoned the village. That was when they were new to the age of twelve. Back when Sasuke didn't even know what sex really was or what it was that turned him on. Throughout the solitary years of training under Orochimaru, Sasuke had just begun to assume he was asexual.

But Naruto had singlehandedly just thrown that idea out the window, so far away that Sasuke could hardly remember even thinking it. And the most comical part of this whole thing was the fact that Naruto didn't even know what he had just caused the Uchiha in that brief second he had showed Sasuke what he was missing those years away from the village.

"Is it alright if I read this?" Naruto asked suddenly, snapping Sasuke back to reality so harshly that he almost flinched.

"What?" Sasuke asked before spotting the small black book that Sasuke had grabbed to read while he was waiting for Naruto to finish his shower, "Oh, yeah," he affirmed offhandedly as his eyes subtly jumped over every detail of Naruto in his casual wear.

He was wearing loose, dark jeans that looked like they probably fit better back when he bought them and a white t-shirt with a faded orange swirl in the middle. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had seen Naruto in anything other than his ninja attire. He had to admit, he loved the way Naruto's bangs hung loosely over his forehead, barely brushing the tips of his eyes: a sight Sasuke rarely saw due to the fact that Naruto never took off his hitai-ate. He loved the way his hair looked when the damn thing wasn't holding it back. Naruto looked cute. So freakin' cute.

But seeing Naruto without all the baggy clothes he usually wore drew his eyes to all the things he never was given a chance to notice before – for example – how thin he really was.

"Naruto, when was you're last meal?" Sasuke asked as he followed the blonde back out into his living room.

"Hm, I couldn't tell you," he mused as he sat down on the couch, placing the book in his lap and opening it to the first page.

"Naruto!" Sasuke chided as he walked into the kitchen with every intention of making something for him, "You'll kill yourself if you don't eat. Idiot," he mumbled, not expecting any sort of answer.

"That won't work," he stated airily as he flipped through the book he was reading, "This stupid demon won't let me die that easily."

Sasuke froze as he opened the fridge. If Naruto knew that, he must have already tried starving himself to death. Which meant that he had technically attempted suicide, right? So how many other attempts had there been?

"I know what you're thinking," the blonde stated, shocking Sasuke who hadn't even heard him walk up right behind him, "I wasn't _trying_ to kill myself. I just didn't have money to spare on food and I've pretty much gotten used to chakra. That's what Kyuubi feeds me, because I know you were wondering," he stated, smirking at the look of confusion on the raven's face. Since when could Naruto smirk like that?

"Chakra…? You can't–" Sasuke began before Naruto cut him off, waving his hand in dismissal as he did.

"Demonic chakra is a lot different than yours and mine, Sasuke. You should know that," he stated. Sasuke didn't know if he was referring to the fact that he should know that through personal experience via the cursed seal or if he was just stating that the fact was more than obvious. Either way, he didn't like the insinuation.

"Well I don't really care either way. You're going to eat real food whether you like it or not," Sasuke began offhandedly as he grabbed at the contents of the fridge until he found the items he needed.

"You can't tell me what to do," Naruto seethed back in a dangerously cynical voice.

"Yes, I can," the raven insisted as he turned to look at the blonde who took a half step back, looking something close to what a cornered animal might look like.

"No you can't!" the blonde screamed as he grabbed the nearest thing to him, throwing it at Sasuke.

Sasuke had to remind himself to be patient as he dodged the vase which shattered on the wall behind him. Naruto was being unnaturally irritable and it was because of the withdrawals. Sakura said they wouldn't die down for about a week so he just had to endure until then.

"Dobe, stop it!" Sasuke began before having to dodge the picture frame that was hurtled at him next.

"Don't call me that!" he screamed as Sasuke absentmindedly grabbed the photo before it could crash into the wall, setting it down gently on the table before he lunged at the blonde, tackling him to the floor before he could attempt to destroy anything else.

"Stop ruining my house, _dobe_," Sasuke warned, throwing an emphasis on the name as he struggled with Naruto.

"Then don't make me stay here," Naruto shot back, making a valid yet annoying point.

It didn't take long before Sasuke had successfully pinned him to the floor and Sasuke had the seal to thank for that. Naruto looked absolutely exhausted. But it was probably that and the added fact that withdrawals weren't exactly a walk in the park. Naruto was still probably feeling like hell.

"Can you just accept some help for once, damn it!" Sasuke cursed loudly, earning a hateful glare.

"This is getting _really_ old, _really_ fast."

"You're impossible!" Sasuke yelled, unsure as to why he was so frustrated with Naruto's self-destructive behavior.

"Then give up Sasuke! Give up and leave me alone!" the blonde yelled, earning a conflicted look from the older boy who looked thoroughly disappointed.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called from the front door, "We're here!" she declared as she stepped into the kitchen to see the boys fighting…again. Really though, she hadn't expected them to do much of anything else.

"I won't give up on you," Sasuke promised in a whisper he was sure only Naruto could hear before standing up, leaving the blonde slightly taken aback and still lying chalk still on the kitchen floor.

"Come on, up off the floor," Kakashi coaxed as he held out a hand for the blonde to take that seemed to snap Naruto out of whatever place he had gone to. He scowled at the hand, slapping it away as he rolled over and got up on his own, shooting Sasuke a glare as he promptly left the room, already quite fed up with all the human contact he had today.

"Naruto! Get the hell back in here!" Sasuke called earning a muffled 'fuck you!' from the blonde who sounded as if he had retreated into the couch of the living room and was pressing his face into a pillow.

"God damn it," Sasuke cursed as he stalked off into the living room to retrieve the blonde, shooting Sakura and Kakashi an apologetic look, "Stop acting like a four year old, Naruto," he chided to the blonde who was lying face down on the couch.

"Fuck. _You_!" the blonde screamed, this time removing his face from the pillow to glare heatedly at the raven, "That better, _mother_? Did you hear me more clearly that time?" he mocked, knowing full well that Sasuke wasn't referring to the fact that he'd been unclear but rather the fact that he was acting the way he was acting.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke began as he turned back towards Kakashi and Sakura, "I haven't even started on dinner. I've had my hands a bit full," he stated, as he tilted his head towards Naruto.

"Well _excuse me_!" Naruto yelled, picking up on the insinuation as he sat up, "But I'm not the one that wants to be here! You could just leave me the fuck alone and then you won't have to be bothered with dirtying your pretty little hands on something _so_ inconvenient."

"Shut the hell up, Naruto. You know that's not what I meant. I already told you, I won't give up on you, no matter how hard you try to push me away. I know you need help and, more importantly, _you_ know you need help. So I don't really care if you _want_ it or not."

"Well," Kakashi interrupted before Naruto could even think to respond, "Since dinner at Sasuke's was a bust, what do you say to going out for dinner? My treat," Kakashi offered in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Sasuke and Sakura seemed to nod in confirmation, Sasuke a bit apologetically as they looked for Naruto to see what his final ruling on the matter was.

"Fine," Naruto sighed before performing a hand seal, "Henge," he mumbled, earning a confused look from almost everyone in the room.

"Do you want poisoned food or what?" the now brown haired and whiskerless Naruto asked, earning a sympathetic look from Sakura. But it was only several moments before the henge dispersed, leaving an exhausted looking Naruto in its wake.

"I can't keep this up," he breathed, glaring at Sasuke, "I wouldn't even be able to walk on water if you asked me to." (3)

"Why?" Kakashi asked, confused with Naruto's sudden exhaustion. He had more chakra than any ninja he knew so it was disconcerting to say the least that he was so exhausted from just a mere henge.

"Ask Sasuke," the blonde suggested as he shot the raven a look of mock interest.

"I'm not taking it off dobe so deal with it."

"I hope you don't expect me to go on missions like this. I fuck up enough as it is, right Sasuke?"

"What are you two going on about?" Kakashi interrupted, still unsure of what they were talking about. His first question had yet to be answered.

"_This_," Naruto seethed as he lifted his shirt, molding chakra to make the seal appear. Kakashi frowned in understanding when the Five Elemental Seal surfaced just outside the Kyuubi's.

"You're mean," Kakashi accused as he shot Sasuke an amused glance.

"Tch," the raven scoffed as he turned his head away in something close to disagreement.

"Well I'm glad you're so amused by this – fuck!" the blonde swore, his frustration with his teacher's light behavior over the matter getting the better of him.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Anyway let's get going," the silver haired man suggested as he turned to leave, motioning with a nod of his head for the three to follow.

"None of you know what you're getting into. We'll all be puking our stomachs out by the end of the night," the blonde mumbled as he followed slowly, dragging his feet as he did.

The group arrived at a small and noisy sushi bar which hesitantly seated the four, the hostess shooting Naruto disapproving looks the entire way which he returned without hesitation. Ordering had been an event of its own. Both Naruto and the waiter had refused to place an order for the blonde, Naruto out of spite of the restaurant and the waiter out of spite of Naruto. Sakura had promptly slapped the young man so swiftly across the face that the entire restaurant was positive her meal might be made complimentary out of fear of a second and more brutal attack but was relieved to see them exit instead, following closely behind a fuming Sakura.

"Ichiraku it is," Kakashi mused to the silence of the street as Naruto kicked at the dirt road under his feet.

"I'm sick of ramen," he mumbled to his feet.

"What's that, usuratonkachi? Stop mumbling," Sasuke chided earning a filthy look from Naruto which he returned with enthusiasm.

"I said ramen's _great_! It's the best food _ever_!" he nearly yelled in sarcasm.

But everyone knew what he really meant. What could they do about it though? Ichiraku was the only restaurant – if you could call it that – that would serve Naruto. Prejudice was an ugly thing and Sasuke was only just beginning to get a good idea of how difficult life might have been for Naruto, growing up in a constant struggle against unwavering discrimination.

But again, what could he possibly do about it?

Absolutely. Nothing.

---

The first couple weeks living with Naruto were rough. Sasuke was finding it more and more difficult not to give Naruto his privacy, but he knew that if he didn't, Naruto could probably cause more harm than was worth the moment of slacking on Sasuke's part. The days were long and strenuous on both their patience's'. Sasuke had given up on keeping breakables anywhere that Naruto could grab and throw at him out of frustration which was how most of his family heirlooms, save the ones Naruto had already destroyed, ended up in the cupboards under the sink.

But after what felt like years to Sasuke, Naruto almost instantaneously realized – things weren't going to be like they used to. And, strangely enough, had accepted it just as quickly: in an extremely uncharacteristic claim of defeat, he surrendered against Sasuke's will and allowed his freedom to be stripped completely from him with next to no arguing. He didn't even bother to complain about Sasuke's sleeping arrangements for him anymore either, which used to be his favorite subject to attack. Sharing a bed with Sasuke was 'disgusting' to him and he never used to give up on an opportunity to complain about it. But now, Naruto merely berated himself for 'breaking' and Sasuke wished he wouldn't see it that way.

And still, Naruto made absolutely no progress when it came to opening up. Absolutely no one could get Naruto to admit how he was feeling. Once the physical part of the withdrawals had gone away, Naruto had returned to his idiotic smiling self, assuring whoever would ask that it was clear he felt fine. No one could smile like him and not be fine. That was how he saw it anyway.

But Sasuke knew better. Sasuke was on the receiving end of all the bottled up frustration from being unable to express his real feelings throughout the day. Sasuke was the one who was yelled at or ignored after the sun set and they had retired to his home.

But when Naruto wasn't busy yelling at him, or when he was too tired to give Sasuke the cold shoulder, Sasuke had to admit that he rather enjoyed Naruto's presence. Living with Naruto was unlike anything Sasuke had ever expected. Naruto wasn't loud or annoying and hardly ever actually spoke to Sasuke unless spoken to first.

Which was almost more annoying than when Naruto used to talk non-stop – especially at times like this when he would up and leave without so much as a loud slam of the front door to let Sasuke know he was going out.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked after he had hurried to the front door just in time to catch the blonde before he had reached the corner of the street.

Naruto seemed to tense with annoyance at being caught before turning around to face the brunette, "Like it's any of your business," he snapped coldly before disappearing with several quick hand seals. Sasuke sighed in irritation as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Great. Searching around town for the idiot was not how he had planned to spend his evening.

---

Three hours. Three fucking hours of searching and still – nothing. Where the hell was that idiot? He had searched everywhere! The training grounds, the idiot's old home, the hokage monument, Ichiraku (out of habit), Tsunade's office, the old swing by the school and the school itself: where the hell else could he even think to look? He glanced at a bar as he passed it, giving it a sidelong glance as he continued on his way down the street, not even giving a second thought about looking inside. Naruto was underage. They weren't allowed to drink so going to a bar would be pointless.

And then he froze. Naruto would know Sasuke would know that.

He turned on his heel and hurried towards the bar, throwing back the hanging curtains as he glanced quickly through the crowd, his eyes landing on a head of bright blonde locks sitting at the end of the bar. He wondered if Naruto had been here all three hours or not. If he had, he was probably trashed by now.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing, dobe?" Sasuke seethed as he approached the blonde sitting at the bar.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Naruto mumbled back as he downed another shot before nearly slamming it back down on the counter with a dull thud in a gesture of asking the bartender for more.

"Will you knock it off?!" the raven chided as he reached for the newly filled shot glass, snatching it away before it could reach the blonde's lips, "And quit serving alcohol to minors," he chided to the bartender who shrugged in reply.

Naruto merely blinked tiredly at his hand where the glass used to be before glaring up at Sasuke reproachfully, his mouth parted slightly and a look in his eyes that was clearly telling Sasuke he had something to say.

But before a thought could escape his lips, his eyes rolled back and he fell straight back off the barstool, landing flat on his back with a painful thud that almost made Sasuke cringe.

Yep, he was definitely trashed.

Getting Naruto home had been an event of its own. He was beyond unconscious and wouldn't stay on Sasuke's back without slipping off somehow, which was how he had resolved to carrying him home bridal style. He hoped no one would catch him because he couldn't stop staring down at Naruto's sleeping features as he lay almost too peacefully in his arms. He knew he probably looked way too content with a situation that would usually irritate him.

When he had finally arrived at his home, he was more than grateful he hadn't met anyone on the streets as he laid the blonde down in his bed, wondering if he should worry about alcohol poisoning. He had no idea how much alcohol Naruto had consumed and had no idea how much was his limit.

Then he began to wonder about other limits Naruto might have…like how long it would take to make him –

Sasuke shook his head slightly as he dispelled the intrusive thoughts. He'd been having too many of those kinds of thoughts about his best friend lately – thoughts he knew that were dangerous and inappropriate.

But he couldn't help it.

And he couldn't help loving the way he felt when those thoughts did find a way of breaking through the mental barrier he had placed against them.

And to add to all the out of place and invasive thoughts, Sasuke had developed a rather bad habit of doing what he was doing right now: watching Naruto sleep. But no matter how fucked up and weird he kept telling himself it was, he couldn't stop.

He watched as Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, a nearly inaudible whimper escaping his slightly parted lips. But Sasuke had heard it: probably only because he was staring so intently at Naruto's sleeping form. Was he having a nightmare? What kind of subconscious projections could cause Naruto to make a noise as pathetic as the one he had made? What kind of images was he seeing that made his eyebrows furrow like that?

Sasuke wasn't sure he wanted to know.

And when a second and more pathetic whine slipped through his lips, he was positive he didn't.

---

_Naruto was sitting at the park, watching the sun set as the other children's parents called them home for dinner where a loving family was waiting. Why did every other child here have parents? Why did everyone have someone except him? Even Sasuke, who just lost his parents, still had the support and love of the entire village so he couldn't relate even to him. He didn't understand why the village seemed to scoff in disgust at his mere presence. _

---

_He was reminded of the day when he first learned the actual way most normal children celebrated their birthdays. The six year old child that was Naruto was wandering aimlessly through the streets. He didn't know why it was he kept dragging himself out into the public eye because the only attention he ever received was negative, but he knew that even the negative presence of people was better than the hallow, bitter walls of his empty home which screamed loneliness loud enough to drive him mad. He watched as a small child, not much older than himself eagerly reached into one of the many shops set up on the sides of the street, picking out the toy he found most attractive. The child stared up into the eyes of his father's, holding out the item he had grabbed from the shelf in a questioning way, as if he were asking if he could have it. The man smiled as he nodded once before paying the shop keeper._

"_Happy Birthday, son!" the man said to the young child as he cradled his new toy._

'_Are birthdays supposed to be happy?'_ _the child of Naruto asked himself as he stared at the scene before him in utter confusion, trying to understand the exchange. All his life, the date of his birthday had been nothing more than a poor reason for all those hateful eyes to voice their contempt towards him. Was the term 'happy birthday' supposed to be some sort of ironic joke? He supposed it could have been like that, but the child seemed so happy to accept his gift. Was it customary to reward children with gifts on the day of his or her birth? The only thing he'd ever received was a rough shove or a disgusted scoff followed by the magic word: bakemono._

_---_

_A twelve year old Naruto offered his goodbye to his pink haired teammate as they reached her home. He had been walking her home after training, her mother greeting her daughter warmly at the door. Sakura waved goodbye to Naruto who stared longingly into the home before the door was shut, burning the image of Sakura being warmly greeted into her cozy home by her mother and father into his mind. How he longed for something like that. He continued walking through the mostly empty streets until he reached his one room apartment. He unlocked and opened the door, standing in the doorway, staring into the empty room with a disdainfully empty look. He hated that he lived alone. The seething quickly brought him back to another memory he had buried deep within himself._

_---_

_Naruto was once again in his empty apartment, watching as his eight year old self woke from a nightmare, yelling out for help which never came. He remembered holding himself since no one else would, lining pillows along the wall and leaning against them in a desperate attempt to gain some sort of loving human contact, even if it was fake. No one had ever explained to him that nightmares weren't real. No one was ever there to scare away the monsters. He always had to deal with it on his own. He hated it. How was he supposed to know the difference between dream sequence and reality? Even a genius can't know something he hasn't been taught. Children don't just know two plus two equals four. Children are normally taught – but not Naruto. No one ever took the time to teach him anything._

_---_

_A nine year old Naruto was standing by himself in front of the park. The villagers seemed to all stand together, looking down upon him as they whispered to each other, seemingly disgusted and bothered by something. Was it him? What had he ever done to these people? He's never even seen or met any of these people. He knew some of the children but they always avoided him. The eyes bored into him and he felt like crumbling beneath them. Why was it always like this? Why did they call him a monster? He never hurt anyone before. He didn't even kill stray bugs in his home; he always caught them and put them outside. So why did he always overhear the word murderer?_

_---_

_Naruto and Sasuke were fighting at the Valley of the End. Sasuke shoved his fist through his chest and, by the look of it, felt no remorse; Sasuke meant business. Sasuke wanted to __kill__ him: his best friend. Before he knew it, the scene changed and he was kneeling in the center of a caved in underground room, staring up at the form of Sasuke who stood at ground level._

"_I__merely let you live on a whim, and now, I'll kill you on a whim__," the memory of Sasuke stated as Naruto felt his heart tear into pieces once more. It was the most painful thing Sasuke had ever said. The insults and constant abuse could never begin to compare to the pain he felt after that one statement._

---

Blue eyes snapped open just as Sasuke's blade pierced his skin, and he found himself lying in Sasuke's bed, quite unharmed and his breathing slightly quickened from the painful onslaught of his most painful memories. His frightened eyes shifted to the other side of the bed and he was unsurprised to find Sasuke sitting up, watching him with a painfully sympathetic look adorning his features. Naruto merely shifted his eyes away again as he rolled over to escape those pitying eyes. Naruto knew he probably looked pathetic and he hated that thought.

"Were you having a nightmare?" Sasuke's voice whispered through the darkness.

"What do you think?" Naruto snapped in an utterly weak voice that betrayed the meaning behind his biting words. His words were clearly telling Sasuke to stay out of his business. But his voice was begging for someone to realize it was all a front – begging for someone to notice he was hurting and needed help.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sasuke asked, hoping Naruto would for once just admit he had feelings that needed to come out.

Naruto seemed to take a steadying breath which sounded suspiciously like an annoyed sigh before answering. Sasuke assumed the sigh was Naruto's attempt at trying to hide the fact that he was probably crying. "No, I don't," he stated in a voice thick with some kind of emotion that was saying otherwise.

"Naruto," Sasuke sighed, preparing to lecture the blonde once again.

"There's nothing to talk about Sasuke so just drop it, ok?!" the blonde snapped as he glared over his shoulder at the raven before lying back down.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's back for a moment, words flying through his mind as he searched for something to say. Naruto's shoulders were way too tense. There was no way he wasn't forcing back tears with that kind of posture.

But before he could think of something even remotely appropriate to say, Naruto beat him to the punch.

"How _could_ you Sasuke?" he asked in such a broken voice that Sasuke had to make sure to remember to breathe.

"What–?" he began before being cut off as Naruto turned over and sat up to face the raven.

"I get why you left but how could you say that?" the blonde asked, puzzling Sasuke who had no idea what the hell he was talking about, "I thought we were _friends_. I really did. I feel so _stupid_. Why did you tell me we were friends and then try to kill me? Why did you – why'd you say–?" the blonde whispered, stumbling over his words as he attempted to pick out the ones that would best suit what he wanted to say.

But he didn't need to say anything more. Sasuke knew exactly what he was talking about now. He had wondered when this would come up. Things had gone _too_ smoothly when he returned to the village. Naruto had pretended like Sasuke _hadn't_ taken two attempts at his life and Sasuke knew there would come a time when those walls of denial would shatter and it seems they finally had.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke began, having no idea what he could say to make it better, "I don't have an explanation. I'm just sorry."

The pang in Sasuke's chest was telling him that that was a lie though. What kind of feeling was that anyway?

Naruto shifted his gaze down as he smiled bitterly, earning a puzzled look from the raven, "I kinda wish you would have lied," the blonde confessed with a soft, bitter laugh, "Do you hate me that much Sasuke?" Naruto asked, earning a politely confused gaze from the raven, "You _knew_ I didn't have anyone who would look past Kyuubi and just see _me_: a person. Even Iruka-sensei still sees it in me. I can tell by how uneasy he gets when I'm mad. So why'd you let me think we were friends? I know I should have expected it; it wouldn't have been the first time someone thought it'd be funny to trick me like that, but why'd you have to make it seem so real? Why'd you drag it out as long as you did? Was it all worth it in the end when you delivered the final blow Sasuke? Was I hurt enough for you? Or was it all a complete waste of time?"

"Naruto, what're you–?" Sasuke began before being cut off.

"Stop pretending like you don't know what I'm talking about!" he nearly yelled as he clenched his fists in frustration, slamming them down on the bed in an attempt to expel the emotions building within his being.

"You don't think we're _friends_?! You don't think I didn't mean every single word I said to you that day in the Valley of End? I meant _every_ word I said! You're the only person left who's important to me! What would I get out of lying to you?! What could I possibly gain by hurting you when you've already fallen so far? And what could I want to gain from helping you back up again?"

"I dunno, Sasuke! What _are_ you trying to gain?!" Naruto interrupted, still convinced there was an ulterior motive.

"Nothing, Naruto! I don't _want_ anything! What's_ so wrong_ about me wanting to just help you?!"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply before closing it as he furrowed his eyebrows slightly, his gaze dropping to his lap, "Nothing…I guess," Naruto agreed, suddenly so complacent that it shocked Sasuke to see such a swift change of emotions, "Excuse me while I throw up," he stated as he stumbled into the bathroom.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he watched his poor attempt at walking before closing himself in the bathroom. Naruto hadn't even slurred any of his words during their entire argument; he could handle his liquor fabulously – that much was clear. He couldn't walk straight to save his life but just now, Sasuke had forgotten just how drunk Naruto probably still was.

He wondered if any of their argument would have even happened if he'd been sober.

And then assumed it probably wouldn't have.

----

Nyah! Sorry to leave it there. I figured a bad update was better than no update at all. Please review! :)

**OH YEAH! Anybody going to Yaoi Con in San Fran at the end of this month?! Lemme know if you'll be there!! I'll be there Friday! :D**

1. Incase that wasn't clear, the item that Sasuke thought wasn't important was the picture of team seven. Unlike Naruto, he isn't very nostalgic. But, since he respects Naruto enough to understand that he _does_ find material things sentimental, Sasuke gets that it would mean something to Naruto to have the photo. Hope that didn't make him seem out of character.

2. If you don't follow the manga, I probably really lost you on this one. Sasuke and Naruto both know about Itachi's mission he was given to kill the Uchiha clan. Shisui was Itachi's best friend, the one that 'committed suicide'. Dunno how closely they really are related but since this is fiction…I can do what I want! And if it's Uchihacest well then I don't really care so nyah!

3. I know that in the anime, Naruto doesn't actually struggle _that_ much with molding chakra – he's actually able to make shadow clones and everything while the seal is still intact – but I'm trying to stress how much Naruto's being affected by the withdrawals. I'm sure any of you that have also experienced a narcotic withdrawal can agree that it's pretty much just awful.


End file.
